Get all 14 Courtney Swain releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of notes to myself, For Once, Augustine, Silver Lining, RPM 2022 - One day EP!, All Around Me, Fountainhead, Three Piano Songs, and 6 more.
1. |
I Forget
03:43
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Sometimes I forget that the bedroom’s upstairs
Sometimes I forget that lunch is served downstairs
Sometimes I forget to trim my sharp nails
I get too excited when light dances its tail
And sometimes I forget to find my warm souls
That keep me trapped and fed and they tell me that I’m loved
I waited all night for the birds to call
I sing along to their to and fro
In the perfect puddle of light
I dream of butterscotch swimming into the sun
Into the sun
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2. |
Bundled
03:26
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In the middle of the night
I crawl over the sheets
To nest your body next to mine
You’ve grown used to midnight attacks
A flurry of kisses on your shoulder
And when the day gets tangled
I trace the red patchwork
Back to our pillows where we were bundled
The good and the bad
And the good and the bad and the all
How could I sleep with such a beautiful being right beside me
But if I unspooled the minutes of the night
The strands wouldn’t be as compelling
As forgetting to breathe
As forgetting to speak
As forgetting to be here in a bundle
As forgetting to see
All the things I could be outside of this bed
Right here we lie bundled
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3. |
Weakness
02:23
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I wanna be soft
I wanna be weak
I wanna make mistakes
And I wanna weep
Make a fool out of myself
I wanna be wrong
I wanna go home
I wanna fall flat on my face
And I want to cede all control of myself
To the rightful cause
The unknown of the smallest things
Is just too much sometimes
It’s just too much sometimes
I wanna shutdown
I wanna clam-up
I wanna close my eyes
And I wanna keep everything in its place
I wanna be shamed, go insane
I wanna keep it all the same
And I want peace without paying its price
And I want peace without paying its price
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4. |
The Ocean
03:35
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Stollen by the waves
Coastline of brave
The ocean isn’t cruel
It just has its days
Fractured by the salt
Papercuts of innocence
It’s not hard to accept
When that’s the default
Ooo
Fuming at the waves
Fuming at the waves for an apology
Fuming at the waves for an apology it cannot give
Tossing in the weeds
Words with gills, they can’t survive
Above the evergreen
Bubbles make no sound
Bat against the wind
Futile sort of exercise
Top marks for trying
A prize worn with sighs
Ooo
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5. |
Anyday
04:29
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Coming down Chestnut Hill I let go of the brakes
Sailing into the night
I’ll take your hand over the steering wheel
Any day, any day, any day
Riding by some old church I see you waving back
Am I glad to be home
I’ll take your hand over the steering wheel
Any day, any day, any day
When there’s no bridge the water just runs
Jelly through a straw choking up
Every car moving Northbound
Is delivering oxygen to the city’s fronds
Sometimes the thoughts just need to timeout
And the muzzle of the engine goes up and down
Push it down to power forward and combust
Muscle through the traffic headed for love
And I let go of the brakes
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6. |
Mudslide
01:12
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7. |
Witches
05:01
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I walk through the city gazing up at towers
How much cobblestone can I cram into a letter
How little we knew that a pinky promise withers
Words ache of arthritis
Niceties no longer remembered
You float through the chimney
Sullied by no ashes
Soot won’t even touch your righteous golden splendor
Blame sinks in cold water grasping for an iceberg
Long broken off from home
A glacier of old paper
And the shelf is bowing from the weight
Of generously dressed words that push away
And back when we were two witches in the basement
We had no nubby fingers to point
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8. |
Food for Worms
02:37
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Winning was the easy part
Now we wait for the sun to sop up
Sorrow clinging to the spuds
A famine of the heart
Worm food making worm food
Black winds call the frost
Wiping names from the quiet block
Crushing leaves in a cup
We drink to the one truth we got
Worm food making worm food
Needle and a thread
Circle ‘round my head
Tossing in bed
Circles ‘round my head
Gnash the molars bite the moss
Return to the belly of the frost
Our slither-kin wait for us
In the forest bury our loss
Worm food making worm food
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9. |
Wormwood
04:33
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Behind the wormwood leaves
Hide your left foot for it
Is the curse that breaks your beautiful
Beautiful, precious one
We protect our secrets
With smokescreens and in turn
They make our dreams more like hollywood
Hollywood, restless one
And I won’t be the first
To find that blood tastes good
Heads are rolling past the silverware
Roasting bodies in the oven air
And I won’t be the first
We bind our heirlooms in
Mahogany for it
Runs straighter than any tale we rune
Tale we rune, wretched one
One day we cease to be
Leave the forest belie
The soil we learned to love, moth to fire
Moth to fire, hollow one
And I won’t be the first
To find that blood tastes good
Amber-trapped in things we thought were there
All this time we stood still in thin air
And I won’t be the first
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10. |
For Once
03:44
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You were so sweet in my dream
Swimming through the shadows together
We became a watercolor
Your cheeks a high orange
And your shadows turned royal blue
And I could have sworn that you looked like the hero
For once
And then I took your photo
Fluffed up like a pornstar
Overexaggerated body parts
You said kind words to me
At once I felt like you understood me
That you felt my pain
And I swear I felt like a hundred dollars
For once
I was eager to please
I was eager to please
I was eager to please
Cut away my dignity
As long as you’re nice to me
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Courtney Swain Providence, Rhode Island
“A gorgeous blend of overwhelming vocal talent, modern keyboard techniques, and contemporary sophistication.”
— New England Noise
Courtney Swain recommends:
Our First EP
by Courtney and Brad
My new J-pop/J-weirdo project with Bradford Krieger from Big Nice Studio
go to album
Music from the dance film "Ripe" created in collaboration with musicians from the Northeast and dancers/cinematographers from Japan.
go to albumIf you like For Once, you may also like:
supported by 21 fans who also own “For Once”
This album is a wild ride. Almost every attempted blend of genre and moods lands right on point. I have a special soft spot for The Floor Is Lava- such an authentic representation of childhood nostalgia.
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A Square is a Shape of Power
by Courtney and Brad
supported by 10 fans who also own “For Once”
go to album
The latest release from the alternative singer includes acoustic versions of songs from her 2020 debut album.
go to album
L.A.’s Twin Oaks specialize in hushed, low-lit songs that put Lauren Brown’s smoky vocals front and center.
go to album
